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Throughout the spring and fall months we have many holidays honoring members of the military, both active duty and veterans. Many museums already partake year round, offering some sort of reduced rates for members of the military who provide a military ID.

But what about families? Particularly during the summer, when school is out and parents are looking for something to do with their children. Enter the Blue Star Museums program. This national program, which guarantees free museum admission for active duty military members, including the National Guard, and their families, runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day. It is a collaboration between the Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Department of Defense (not to mention the more than 2,000 museums that take part!). Many museums that offer this program extend the length of their free days, either through the length of their open season or year round.

This is a wonderful way for museums to offer their collection and educational resources while honoring the service of our military men and women. Whether you are a museum who wants to sign up for the program, or you want more information on the program, visit their website for more information and a map of all of the Blue Star museums in your state.

One of the (many) ongoing debates in museums concerns the definition of what is educational. At first glance, you would think that this would be fairly simple: an activity that teaches or imparts information in some way. In reality, it is far more complicated. Where do we draw the line between education and entertainment? Many museums struggle with finding the correct balance of fun and learning without straying into the realm of “edutainment.”

Enter the City Museum in St. Louis. The Museum has been around since 1997, when the International Shoe Company was converted by designer Bob Cassily into the current Museum. Arguably, the best way to describe it is as a gigantic playground for adults and children alike. Visitors are encouraged to explore a humongous 10 story slide (as opposed to the less humongous 5 story slide), a huge ball pit, realistic underground caves, and planes to explore. If you haven’t had a chance to check out what their museum offers, I would suggest you visit their website or check out this video.

So what is the educational value of the City Museum? Is it merely an amusement park dressed up as a museum? Cassily, founder and designer of the Museum, believes that the point of the Museum is not to have people “learn every fact;” rather, the purpose of the Museum is to instill a sense of exploration and discovery that is not place-specific. To Cassily and the City Museum staff, if the Museum is effectively educating, it sees itself as helping its visitors take what they practice in the museum and use it to navigate the outside world.

If we consider what the Museum is doing as more entertainment than education, what does that mean for our children’s museums? Is it a slippery slope? Or is it an effective way to bring in visitors and to give a fresh face to what is generally seen as the stuffy, closed off world of museums?

If we consider it to be education, and not merely entertainment, what kind of a precedent does that set for other museums or institutions providing educational resources and activities? Is it an equally slippery slope?

What do you think?

One thing is for sure – educational or not, I’ll be visiting the next time I find myself in St. Louis.

Intentional Museum is happy to announce its second student blogging competition! We believe thattomorrow’s museum professionals will shape and change the field through their unique perspectives and new ideas, and, because of that; there is a lot we can learn from students. New voices keep us on our toes and encourage us to consider alternate viewpoints.

We think a lot about intentional practice and would like to hear how students think about intentional practice and the impact it can have on the visitor experience. To that end, we ask that you reflect on the following question: Through your intentional practice, how do you help museums enrich the lives of others?

Perhaps you find joy in drafting a collections care plan, ensuring that objects and artifacts are around for many generations. Maybe you spend your time thinking about how museums can better use digital opportunities or social media to expand their reach beyond the traditional walls. From museum education to exhibitions, visitor services to administration, regardless of your focus, we want to hear from you. We often reflect on our professional experiences on Intentional Museum, but we appreciate the personal connection. We want your blogs to tell a story, to speak about your experience, and to highlight your unique insight into the museum field.

Guidelines:· Bloggers must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree or certificate program and have an interest in museum practice.

· Blogs should be no longer than 500 words and written in a conversational style. Avoid jargon and academic language to ensure clarity.

· You are welcome to share how the work of others has influenced your practice, but this isn’t required. If you include quotes, be sure to include citations.

· We have no idea what the winning blogs will look like – if you look through our past posts, you will see we tell stories, share academic insights, and sometimes we are funny. We want to hear your story, so let your passion show.

· Check your work carefully for spelling and accuracy. While no one is perfect, winning blogs will be error free.

RK&A staff will review all entries and publish the top one or two responses on the Intentional Museum blog. Winners will be notified and announced at the end of March. Winning blog posts will be shared with our readers in April and May 2015. Winners will also receive a copy of one of our favorite museum books, Stephen Weil’s Making Museums Matter, with a personalized note from Randi.

How to Enter:· One (1) entry per blogger, please.

· Send your blog as a Word document attached to an email.

· Include your name, school, degree program and expected graduation date in the body of the email, with the subject line “Intentional Museum Blog Competition.”

· Please do not include your name/identifying information as a header to your blog entry. Each entry will be assigned a number to ensure unbiased review.

The Massachusetts Historical Society’s latest exhibit, “Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country: Massachusetts Women in the First World War,” tells of the Great War from a lesser-known perspective: that of American women. Featuring photographs, letters, diaries, and memorabilia, this exhibit captures the experiences of Margaret Hall and Eleanor “Nora” Saltonstall, two women from Massachusetts who served in France and Belgium as volunteers for the Red Cross.

The exhibit is simple and sparse, but the poignant voices of these women shine through. Both women witnessed some of the most climactic months of the Great War and both documented their experiences in great detail. Margaret Hall’s photographs serve as powerful images of battered and war-torn Europe. Hall’s large-format photographs, which are on loan from the Cohasset Historical Society, strikingly hang on the gallery walls. She captured various subjects with her camera lens, from the crumbling ruins of Reims, France, to candid moments between Italian soldiers outside of battle.

Eleanor Saltonstall wrote many letters home to her family while she was a nurse in France. It is through her words that we get a more vivid and complete understanding of what the experience as a volunteer nurse was like during World War I. In one letter dating from 1918 that is on display, Saltonstall explains why she is serving abroad. She writes, “Don’t look upon me as headstrong and seeking excitement; I’m not, but I have been hunting for a job which is real work and which is a direct help, even if it is the tiniest drop in the bucket, to the ultimate close of war.”

Accompanying this exhibition are powerful World War I propaganda posters heralding American patriotism and service. In “Persuasive Images,” the visitor gets a more broad sense of the war effort at home.

“Letters and Photographs from the Battle Country: Massachusetts Women in the First World War” is open at the Massachusetts Historical Society until January 24th, 2015. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm.